Bracket for folding leg



Feb. 21, 1956 c. o. LARSON 2,735,702

BRACKET FOR FOLDING LEG Filed Feb. 16, 1951 United States Patcfit' v.

BRACKET FOR FOLDING LEG Charles 0. Larson, Sterling, Ill. ApplicationFebruary 16, 1951, Serial No. 211,405 3 Claims. (Cl. 287-14) Thisinvention relates to brackets for uniting table legs to table tops and,more particularly, this invention relates to a specially formed sheetmetal bracket for pivotally uniting legs of standard lumber shapes tothe underside of wooden tops so that the legs can be swung from a foldedposition juxtaposed to the underside of the table top to an extendedposition at right angles to the table top for supporting the table orother top.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a simple typeof sheet metal bracket having means whereby the same may be aflixed tothe underside of a table top or other support and comprising a pair ofspaced apart plates into which the upper end of a table leg or othersupport may be fitted and wherein the plates and the legs are formedwith spaced holes and slots through which one or more bolts are passedin a manner to permit the leg to be shifted down a bit with respect tothe table top so that the leg may be folded thereunder and held in suchfolded position.

Yet another object of the invention resides in providing a sheet metalbracket adapted to be fixed to the underside of a table top or othersupport, which bracket is provided with a pair of spaced plates betweenwhich the leg of the table is adapted to be inserted and wherein theopposed plates are formed with vertically spaced apart registering boltholes and wherein the leg is provided with an elongatedslot-co-extensive in length to the space between the bolt holes wherebythe leg may be placed within the socket between the plates with itsupper end flush against the upper side of the table top or support andwherein the bolt may be passed through the upper holes of the plates andthrough the slot of the leg to hold the leg in right angle position withrespect to the table top or wherein the bolt may be removed from theupper holes, the leg shifted endwise so that its upper end no longerabuts the underside of the table and wherein the bolt may then be placedin the lower registering holes and passing through the slot in the tableleg to permit the leg to be swung to the underside of the table inparallel re lationship therewith.

Yet another object of the invention resides in providing the bracketconstruction of sheet metal for the various 'types of leg constructionsas hereinbefore set forth.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from a perusalof the following specification when taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one form of the invention, showing theparallel plates of the bracket provided with vertically spaced boltholes and wherein the leg is provided with an elongated slot by whichconstruction .on removal of the bolt the upper end of the leg may bespaced from the underside of the table to permit it to 'fold intoparallel spaced relation into the underside of the table and then to beheld in this folded position by re- 'insertion of the bolt in the lowerhole of the bracket plates;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view showing the leg in vertical supporting position;

Fig. 4 shows the leg in the folded position;

Fig. 5 is a view of the leg and plate removed from the table top; and VFig. 6 illustrates the details of the pair of plates that make thebracket.

In the form of the invention disclosed in Figs. 1-6 of the drawings, thebracket is formed of two separate blanks of sheet metal of desiredgauge. The two half brackets are bent to form in a suitable device sothat when assembled, they will envelope the sides of the top portion ofa leg member.

In this invention it is preferred that the legs be formed of standardshapes of lumber which are preferably rectangular in cross section. Inthis manner it is simple to purchase the brackets and by using standardshapes of lumber to produce simple and easily assembled tables or otherdevices having foldable legs.

In the construction of the device shown in Figs. 1-6, the two brackethalves are identical. Each half includes a plane face 2 of desired shapeand size. In the present form the face 2 is generally rectangular exceptthat the lower edge is curved for ornateness. At its top each half isprovided with a flange 4 bent at right angles to the plane of the face 2and provided with spaced holes 6'for screws 7 for attaching the bracketto the underside of the table top or other supporting surface whateverit may be. In addition, each face plate is provided along its topvertical edges with a pair of lugs 8 which are bent also at right anglesto the plane of the face plate 2 but in planes at right angles to theplane of the flange 4. Each lug 8 is preferably of a length equal to onehalf of the width of the leg 9 desired to be used and the two lugs 8,when the two brackets are assembled, have their ends confronting andpreferably in contact to provide guide flanges to guide the narrowerdimensional opposed walls of the leg 9 when the leg is shifted.

In this present construction the top surface 10 of each leg, when theleg is in table top supporting position, as when the leg extends atright angles to the plane of the table top 1, is adapted solidly tosupport and touch the underside of the top, throughout the area of thetop of the leg. This situation is illustrated in full lines of the legin Fig. 2. To accomplish this and also to permit the leg to foldupwardly substantially close to the underside of the table top, thebracket and each leg are interpivoted in a manner to permit this.

One construction for accomplishing the foregoing is to provide eachplate of the bracket with a pair of spaced holes 12 and 14, each holebeing of a size to receive the shank of a bolt 16. The bolt at one endis formed with a head 18 of larger diameter than the holes 12 or 14 andthe opposite end of each bolt is threaded to receive either a wing nut20 or a suitable nut for clamping purposes. In addition the leg isprovided with a suitable slot 22 at its upper end of a lengthcorresponding to the distance between the bolt holes 12 and 14 which isthe preferred construction. The holes in the plates 2 and the slots 22in the upper ends of the legs 9 and the position of the slots 22 withrespect to the upper surface 10 of each leg is selected so that when thetop surface 10 of a leg is in contact with the underside of the table 1as shown in full lines in Fig. 2, the shank of the bolt 16 is disposedin the upper pair of holes 1212 of the bracket plates 2. In thisposition the wing nut 20 is screwed along the threaded position of thebolt shank into tight engagement with the plates 22 of the bracketwhereby firmly to clamp the leg or legs in open or table supportnigposition as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. In this position the upper end ofthe legs fits into position between the end lugs 88 and the side plateswhich constitute at the top a four sided bracket.

To fold each leg, the wing nut is unthreaded from the bolt and thelatter removed and positioned in the pair of opposed holes 1414 of thebracket plates. The slot 22 is of sufficient length to permit the legpivotally to swing to folded position, as shown in Fig. 3. Before theleg 9 is pivotally shifted to horizontal or folded position it must bemoved endwise out of its socket between the flanges 8-8, a distanceequal to the height of the flanges. This height corresponds generally tothe length of the slot 22. This endwise movement of the leg positionsthe top edge 10 of the leg as shown in dotted line 24 of Fig. 3 asuificient distance downwardly of the underside of the bracket lugs 8-8to permit the leg to be pivotally swung to the position shown in Fig. 4.

In this form of the invention, the bolt 16 is removed from one set ofholes in the bracket and reinserted in the other set of holes in orderto fold or unfold the table leg with respect to its top.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

l. A bracket for pivotally and foldably uniting legs to a table top orother support comprising a pair of side plates spaced apart the width ofthe leg to receive the leg therebetween and being normally verticallydisposed when the leg is in operative supporting position, each sideplate having at its upper edge an integral extension disposed at rightangles to the plate, said extensions lying in the same plane and beingformed with means for attachment to the underside of the table orsupport, said side plates each having a pair of spaced holes havingtheir centers disposed substantially in a common vertical plane, theholes of each pair being aligned for the reception of a clamping bolt,and a projection formed on each plate at the top thereof to form withthe other plate a pair of end plates to form a four sided socket for thetop portion of the associated leg.

2. A bracket for pivotally and foldably uniting legs to a table top orother support comprising a pair of side plates spaced apart the width ofthe leg to receive the leg therebetween and being normally verticallydisposed when the leg is in operative supporting position, each sideplate having at its upper edge an integral extension disposed at rightangles to the plate, said extensions lying in the same plane and beingformed with means for attachment to the underside of the table orsupport, said side plates each having a pair of spaced holes havingtheir centers disposed substantially in a common vertical plane, theholes of each pair being aligned for the reception of a clamping bolt,and a pair of inwardly extending lugs formed on each plate and adaptedto engage the edges of similarly formed lugs on the opposite plate whenthe plates are in leg receiving position to form opposed ends for thebracket.

3. A bracket for pivotally and foldably uniting legs to a table top orother support comprising a pair of side plates spaced apart the width ofthe leg to receive the leg therebetween and being normally verticallydisposed when the leg is in operative supporting position, each sideplate having at its upper edge an integral extension disposed at rightangles to the plate, said extensions lying in the same plane and beingformed with means for attachment to the underside of the table orsupport, said side plates each having a pair of spaced holes havingtheir centers disposed substantially in a common vertical plane, theholes of each pair being aligned for the reception of a clamping bolt,and relatively short integral end plate means formed on said platesbetween each pair of adjacent vertical end edges of said pair of sideplates, each of said end plate means extending downwardly from the upperedges of said side plates a distance substantially equal to the verticalspacing of said pairs of holes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS136,659 Lovell Mar. 11, 1873 403,602 Neill May 21, 1889 483,460 LindsaySept. 27, 1892 1,039,868 Whitney Oct. 1, 1912 1,855,857 Harman Apr. 26,1932 2,047,389 Sinclair July 14, 1936 2,102,888 Dill Dec. 21, 19372,466,205 Burr Apr. 5, 1949

